FutureCatalyst

Visual Insight Seminar, Jan. 19-20, Bodega Bay

You're invited to a “Writing on the Walls,” Visual Communication Seminar in Bodega Bay, given by Eileen Clegg’s company, Visual Insight.

OK, this is shameless self promotion (I’m part of it--leading participants in FutureCatalyst processes) but it’s a great seminar and what Eileen Clegg does with her Visual Insight process is amazing. Her clients include top management at IBM in NY, Starbucks, Google and the like…

About the seminar: As workforces become increasingly global, visual and icon-driven, the impact of images on the future of organizations becomes even more important.

The Visual Insight process enables executives, educators and team leaders to capture and translate visual thinking in drawings--to inspire group participation, clarify concepts, draw out new ideas, and motivate follow-up action. (No artistic skill is needed for this seminar.)

Faculty:

Eileen Clegg — visual journalist for multi-national corporations and educational foundations, book author.

Christine Walker — visual artist, author, educator, specialist in creative process.

Betsy Burroughs— marketing consultant, and creator of the FutureCatalyst Innovation Process.

Kevin Wheeler—international expert on learning organizations, president of Global Learning Resources, author of The Corporate University Workbook (with Eileen Clegg, Jossey Bass 2003)

Cost is $1500 per person, including meals and materials. Discounts for groups, and for nonprofit and government organizations. More info at eileen@visualinsight.net

Peter Sanderson: Mask Artist and Poet

Peter Sanderson is an amazing artist and long-time friend of old friends of mine--Salon regular, FusionOne COO, and FutureCatalyst Advisory Board member, Linda Hayes, and her husband Ed Shroeder.

I finally got to meet Peter at Linda and Ed’s recently—and see his gorgeous new book, Looking Within: L'Esprit des Masques.  He creates his masks with small flower petals. In his book each full-page photo of a mask is accompanied by a poem Peter wrote. Peter’s masks are at Avalon Gallery in Carmel.  Find out more about Peter, his work, workshops and more at his site.

Peter will be at the 12.07.06 FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon. Come meet him and see the book of his wonderful work.

Update: Peter will be at the 1.04.07 Salon and this time will be bringing one of his masks.

11.09.06 Symposium: From Counterculture to Cyberculture: The Legacy of the Whole Earth Catalog

On  Thursday, 11.09.06, there will be what looks like a great symposium on From Counterculture to Cyberculture: The Legacy of the Whole Earth Catalog, featuring Stewart Brand, Kevin Kelly, Howard Rheingold and Fred Turner.

It's from  7:00 to 8:30 PM. Cubberly Auditorium, Stanford University.  I’m really bummed I’ll be out of town for this one.  If you go, I’d love to hear about it.

(Update:  I heard Fred Turner speak at Institute for the Future Monday night—Fred wrote the book of the same title—and he was fantastic. Can’t wait to read his book.  Go to this 11.09 event if you can!)

New Berkeley FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon Coming in '07

The FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon is coming to Berkeley in ’07!

Claudia Welss asked if we could do a regular Salon at her beautiful offices at the Strawberry Creek Design Center in Berkeley.  These offices house both her company, Intuitropic, and the NextNow Collaboratory.  We think that’s a great idea.  Watch here for details.

Drew Banks, Author

In  Drew's spare time (! )   (See previous 10.27.06 post about his company, Pie Digitial), he’s written his first novel, Able Was I.

I just finished it and was blown away.  Drew is also the author of two business books, Beyond Spin: Corporate Journalism, and Customer.Community: Unleashing the Power of Your Customer Base. 

Drew Banks of Pie, "Home Networking Easy as Pie"

In last month’s  Brainstorming Salon invite I told you about meeting Drew Banks, president and COO of Pie Digital, at the Waldzell Meeting in Austria last month.

Since then I got a demo of Pie and it’s amazing.  It’s a home networking play that’s a CE device that acts as a home networking dashboard (very small, great looking—IDEO-type folks designed it) and software subscription model.  In addition to your basic home network, you can easily connect any networkable device (digital cameras, MP3 players, etc.) and Pie handles it all—compatibility, monitoring, optimizing performance, automating analysis and problem resolution--and it learns from every user. 

Drew’s going to be at the 11.2.06 Salon if you want to know more about it.

NYT Reviewed Documentary at the 11.02.06 FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon

Just after the 11.2.06 FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon, we will be treated to a private showing of a New York Times reviewed (10.29.06) documentary.  Filmmaker Alidra Solday has been to the Salon before and will be back 11.02.06 with “Granny D. Goes to Washington,”  her “half-hour documentary that chronicles the extraordinary march across the U.S. by then 89 year-old political activist, Doris Haddock”  It will also be on PBS on 11.06.06 at 2PM.  (Set your Tivo’s..)  See www.grannyddoc.com for more information. 

Long Now 11.3.06 on New Philanthrophy

Join other FutureCatalyst Salon folks at The Long Now Foundation's monthly talk, Friday, November 3rd, 7PM, Fort Mason, Free.  Topic: The Deeper News About the New Philanthropy with Larry Brilliant of google.org, Katherine Fulton, president of Monitor Institute, & Richard Rockefeller.  Details at www.longnow.org.  If you'd like to grab a bite with others before the talk, email me at bb@futurecatalyst.com   

Alan's Wine Cellar 11.06.06 Tasting for Marin Hoizon School

Alan's Wine Cellar is having a tasting on Sunday, 11/5.  It's free.  Drop by anytime between 3-6PM, at the Acqua Hotel, Mill Valley (which just happens to be one of Chip Conley's hotels).  Alan Abram's wines are featured at every FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon. Come to this event and get to taste many more. 

As Alan's invite says:  "Join us for another spectacular tasting and sale of amazing wines and unique wine accessories.  A fun afternoon enjoying delicious wine from around the world as well as the best of California's small production and hard-to-find wines.  Prices range from $10 to $60.  Don't worry about kids, we provide childcare while you're here.

Marketing that Matters: 10 Practices to Profit Your Business and Change the World

I found out about the Waldzell Meeting through Chip Conley, founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, purveyor of fabulous hotels in California—over 30 altogether now.  Many of them are in SF including Hotel Vitale, Phoenix Hotel, Hotel Rex, and 15 more. 

Chip’s the co-author  of a wonderful book that's just out, Marketing that Matters: 10 Practices to Profit Your Business and Change the World, through Social Venture Network.   Last night there was a great launch party for the book at Hotel Rex.  Also check out Chip’s web site --it has info about his other books and much more.

In Paris with Gloria Young, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco

After my week in Austria I spent another week in Paris.  FutureCatalyst Brainstorming regular, Gloria Young, joined me for 3 days there.  Gloria is the Clerk of the Board of Superivors of San Francisco.  She took Euostar to Paris after giving a talk on one of her areas of expertise, knowledge management, at Rolls Royce in the UK. 

I hadn't been in Paris since I had an apartment in the Bastille for the month of June, 2000.  Those who know me know what a Francophile I am.  A week in Paris was a good fix.  We had an apartment right at the Place de Victories, behind the Palais Royale. 

Summer Search Has Great Interns

FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon regular Charlotte Ziems is vice president of research at Guidewire Group.  She recently joined the board of Summer Search, which serves an amazing group of young people.  Two were interns at Guidewire Group this summer.

I went to a Summer Search party last Sunday night (along with a couple of other Salon regulars, Bill Daul, founder of NextNow  and Amy Jussel of Shaping Youth)

Summer Search finds " resilient low-income high school students and inspires them to become responsible and altruistic leaders by providing year-round mentoring, life-changing summer experiences, college advising, and a lasting support network.”

Their stats are really impressive: 100% graduate high school; 93% go on to college; 89% have completed college or are on track to do so.

Summer Search  is looking for internships for these kids so if you need an intern, please contact them.

Josef Hochgerner, CEO, Centre for Social Innovation, Vienna

The day after the Waldzell Meeting I met with Josef Hochgerner, founder and CEO of the Centre for Social Innovation in Vienna,  (The site's in English).  I was introduced to him by my client, Charlie Grantham of The Future of Work who told me, "Josef is the leading researcher in in the EU on topics related to innovation and knowledge creation."

Josef is also a big supporter of the Global Marshall Plan, "an initiative for the implementation of a global eco-social development plan as a basis for a worldwide ecological and social market economy."

In a separate meeting I spent time with a colleague of Josef's, Sigrud Bohle. She and I have a mutual interest in using walking for creativity and problem solving.  She's writing her dissertation on that subject.  Can't wait to read it.

Carl Bressler in Vienna

I had a great time at lunch with Carl Bressler (who picked the fabulous Fabios for our lunch--must be the most hip, cool restaurant in all of Vienna) and then again drinks with him that night at the Style Hotel.  Carl is a friend of FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon regular, Pat Dunbar.  (Pat's the co-founder and president of the DiMA Group).  They met at TED. 

Carl was in the midst of his first of four trips around the world, spending a lot of time this trip in Eastern Europe.  And acting in a movie while he was there, too!

Carl's LinkedIN profile describes him well, “Founder, CEO, Montana Artists Agency, Ex-Agent, Executive Producer, Restaurant, Bar investor, Silent Partner, World Traveler, Friend."   

The Waldzell Meeting at Abbey Melk, Austria, 9/06

Truth be told, hanging out with the group of other Americans staying in the same inn together a half-hour bus ride from the conference was as good or better than hearing Christo and Jeanne Claude, or Robert Gallo or Isabel Allende at the Waldzell Meeting in Austria, September 8-10.

That group of Americans consisted of myself, Chip Conley, CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, SF, Drew Banks, president of home networking company, Pie, also of SF,  Bob Martin, GM of The Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, and Laura Galloway of the Galloway Media Group, New York City.  Fascinating, wonderful people.  All doing really interesting things.  More to come about them in future posts.

Alas, I didn't blog in Austria and France

It’s just wrong to spend time in Starbucks while in Vienna, of all places.  But their TMobile HotSpots were great.  Not so in Paris.  McDonald’s has the most accessible WiFi there.  Hanging out in McDonald’s in Paris is worse than hanging out in Starbucks in Vienna.

Nancy Friedman's blog post re. FutureCatalyst Salons and Walking Workshops

Nancy Friedman has a great blog, Away with Words, Names, brands, writing, and the quirks of the English language.

Nancy is a regular columnist at Visual Thesaurus and...she's a regular at the FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salons.

Recently she did a FutureCatalyst Walking Workshop--from the San Francisco Ferry Building then on to the Sausalito ferry and back.  She wrote a great post about it on her blog.  I thought I'd include it here, too.  Thanks, Nancy!

Cruising for Creativity

I got to know Betsy Burroughs of Future Catalyst a couple of years ago when we worked on complementary projects for a start-up client. An ad-agency veteran and marketing pro, Betsy is one of the most creative thinkers I've ever encountered. I was wowed by her approach to brainstorming and started attending her monthly Brainstorming Salons, where I met as stimulating a group of thinkers and doers as you'll find in the Bay Area--or anywhere. (One of last month's attendees was a zookeeper who'd assisted at the birth of a giraffe; other salonistes have included the Mexican trade consul, a product designer, a winegrower, and the founder of Blurb, the newish self-publishing company.)

Last weekend I finally got to participate in one of Betsy's other offerings, the Walking Workshop. It's a bit of a misnomer: We didn't do much walking, but we definitely moved through space and transported our thinking patterns to a different plane. I recommend the experience to anyone who wants to tap into unexpected creative reserves and find new ways to solve problems.

We met at San Francisco's Ferry Plaza, where the fog had lifted and the extraordinary Saturday-morning farmers market was in full swing. As we waited to board the Sausalito ferry, Betsy handed each of us a packet of 30 index cards and a pen and asked us to scan our surroundings and quickly write down one thing we liked on each of the cards, along with two or three reasons we liked the thing.

As with all brainstorming exercises, this one was easy at first: Bay Bridge--check; sailboats--check; little girl with curly blond hair--check. To fill out all 30 cards, however, requires a commitment to positive thinking I rarely experience. It took me the entire half-hour duration of the ferry crossing to complete the assignment. But it was worth it: As Betsy says, "You can't come up with good ideas when you're feeling bad."

When we reached Sausalito we disembarked in a different microclimate and architectural habitat...and then got back in line for the return trip. (As I said, there isn't a lot of walking in a Walking Workshop.) Once on board we received our next assignment: Flip over the cards and write on each one a problem or challenge in our personal or professional lives.

Next stage: Back in San Francisco, we walked around the farmers market (this was the "walking" part) and quickly scanned both sides of each card, seeing whether we made any associations. Was there a connection between "marketing my business" and a bicyclist's garden-gnome-in-landscape shirt? What did "blog ideas" have to do with "calm, happy babies"? "New clients" and "Golden Gate Bridge"?

If you think this sounds random, give yourself an A+: randomness is one of the cornerstones of Betsy's process. She's studied the "lateral thinking" work of Edward de Bono and the "inattentional blindness" study of Harvard psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris, and she's added some insights of her own. (Future Catalyst's tagline, by the way, is "Bring Your Insight Out.")

Why a Walking Workshop? Because Betsy believes that changing your surroundings, using varied modes of transportation, forces you to change your habits of thinking. (She does another workshop that's a one-day trip to Yosemite Valley via Amtrak and bus.) "It's like changing the keywords in your Google search," Betsy says. And: "A room is a terrible place to brainstorm in."

Betsy is one of just 150 people invited to attend next month's Waldzell meeting outside Vienna; the annual confab is tagged a "global dialog for inspiration," and speakers will include Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Isabel Allende, and HIV researcher Robert Gallo. Betsy promised to blog from Waldzell; I'll send you a link as soon as she's ready. I'm sure whatever she has to say will be well worth reading.

August 14, 2006 in Creativity

Waldzell Meeting Answers, Part 3: "Music Changes the World"

The third Waldzell Meeting question:

“Music changes the world”

"The choral conductor of the world-renowned Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Erwin Ortner, has planned a special music experiment for just Waldzell: "When you think of the idea of an individual changing the world, what piece of music (classical, opera, folk, rock, pop) comes to your mind?"

Please email us the name of your selected piece of music detailing the name of the composer, the artist and the title (Please only an actual song, an aria or a lyric). "

My answer:

CD:  Instruments of Change

Track: Emerging Light. 

By Jaron Lanier

Jaron’s web site

Jaron’s Wikipedia entry

Jaron is considered the father of virtual reality.  I’ve know him for over 25 years, ever since I rented the cottage behind my

Palo Alto

house to him when he was 20. 

Jaron’s work in virtual reality shows how the digital revolution that Doug Engelbart and The Cluetrain Manifesto talks about come together to create opportunities to form relationships never before possible—relationships that can unite many individuals to make powerful changes in the world.

While Jaron is very influential in the virtual reality world, his first love is music.  I picked his album, Instruments of Change, for two reasons:  First because of its title. And secondly because of the way Jaron merges both visual images and music in a beautiful way in this CD—a way that shows some of what can be done because of the digital revolution.

Waldzell Meeting Answers, Part 2: Quote for the "Walk of Change"

For the Waldzell Meeting we were also asked:

"For the "Walk of Change" we ask that you also send us a quotation that best expresses for you the possibilities of the individual to change the world. "

My answer: 

“The digital revolution is far more significant than the invention of writing or even printing” --Doug Engelbart.

Doug’s web site

Doug’s Wikipedia entry  

Doug is part of a group I’m in called NextNow.  It’s a bunch of very interesting folks started by Bill Daul about 3 years ago. 

Doug invented the computer mouse and many of the concepts behind desktop personal computing back in the Sixties at Stanford Research Institute.  Also, the concept of network augmented intelligence is attributed to Engelbart based on his pioneering work in the early 1960s.

Doug’s quote is important to me because I think the “digital revolution” is empowering the individual to be able to make changes that affect the whole world to a degree never before possible.

Waldzell Meeting Answers, Part 1: "Books change the world"

For the Waldzell Meeting, each participant was asked submit their answers to 3 questions beforehand.  I'm posting my answers here.  Below is the first question, followed by my answer.

“Books change the world”:

An important part of the Waldzell Meeting program will be the setting up of a temporary Waldzell Library for the duration of the meeting.

For this purpose, the participants are requested to select and bring along a book that they believe best suits the topic: "What book best expresses your own views on the ability of the individual to change the world?"

You will give this book to another participant at the end of the meeting. We kindly request that you email us an excerpt, which personally best expresses the essence of this book for you, preferably no longer than two – four sentences."

My answer:

The Cluetrain Manifesto, The End of Business as Usual by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger,  www.cluetrain.com

The Cluetrain Manifesto is a seminal work about the Internet.   Its primary message is that the Web is a conversation medium, not a publishing one, and that individuals speaking in their own voices have tremendous power.

I’ve known co-author Doc Searls for over 20 years.  He is one of the first bloggers--and still one of the most influential, Doc is an expert in the Open Source Movement—a movement whose concepts work way beyond the software arena where it first really took off.  I use the concepts in The Cluetrain Manifesto in all the marketing consulting I do.

Here’s the excerpt from The Cluetrain Manifesto I’ve selected:

“People are attracted to precisely the difference the Net provides: The sound of human beings talking with one another as human beings…The value of our voice is beyond mere words. The human voice reaches directly into our beings and touches our spirits…On the Web, people are writing in their own voices because they want to talk, to help, to contribute.  If that’s not altruism, it’s something close to it.”

"September" FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon, 8/31/06

Photos from the "September" FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon...on August 31, 2006--a small but great pre-holiday crowd.

The Salons really are always the first Thursday of every month.  But I'll be in Vienna next week so we did September's early.

I had the presence of mind to take some photos of the loft just before this Salon so here's what it looks like before th e people and the wine and food arrive...  (Forgive the formatting...I'm new at getting my photos into the blog...)

8/31 FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon News & Announcements

The next FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon is today in San Francisco.  If you'd like to be on the invite list for the Salons, send me an email at bb@futurecatalyst.com.  The invitation has all the information about the Salons, who comes to them, how they work, lots of testimonials and more.

Each invitation also has some "News & Announcements."  Here they are for this Salon:

1. The "September" Salon is August 31st.  (This is the only exception to the "first Thursday of the month" rule.)

That's because I'm off to London, Paris and Vienna next week.  (I know, tough duty.)

Vienna for the Waldzell Meeting with 150 of my closest friends :>) and Christo and Jeanne Claude, Paulo Coelho, Isabel Allende and Warren Bennis, as well as Carla Del Ponte, the chief war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, Robert Gallo who discovered the HIV virus, Elizabeth Lesser who co-founded the Omega Institute, and more.  Can't wait.

London to join Salon regular Gloria Young (she's the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors for the City and County of San Francisco) where she's speaking on knowledge management.

Paris to meet with the European School of Management (thanks to Salon regular, Jeff Saperstein, who teaches there every year.)

Stay tuned for my blog posts from the trip...

2.  Join other FutureCatalyst Salon folks at The Long Now Foundation's monthly talk on 9.22.06.  Orville Schell, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley will be speaking on China.  Free.  If you'd like to grab a bite to with others before the talk, email me at bb@futurecatalyst.com.

3.  Many of you know I'm writing a book about my Innovation Catalyst techniques.  People have been bugging me to do it for many, many years.  So...to help me with it, I'm now teaching one of those techniques before each Salon from 4:30-5:30PM.  (We tried doing it from 5:00-5:30PM but it was too distracting.)  Very informal.  Wine drinking is encouraged...

Bruce Ambramson's Second Book, working title: The Secret Circuit

Many of you know FutureCatalyst Brainstorming Salon regular, Bruce Abramson. He's the author of Digital Phoenix. Why the Information Economy Collapsed and How It Will Rise Again.

Now he's working on his second book which he describes this way:

“The meta-theme of the second book is the same as the first: What does it mean for the world to transition from the industrial age to the information age? Beyond that, they diverge.

"Digital Phoenix was essentially about information business, as told through the lens of four front-page stories: the Internet Bubble, the Microsoft trial, the rise of Open Source, and the coming of Napster.

"The second book (working title, The Secret Circuit) is an institutional story about the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This little-known and less-understood appellate court, located about a block from the White House, hears ALL appeals dealing with patent law, international trade law, and government business law (as well as a few other issues). In short, it is where we can see the rules governing innovation, globalization, and the role of government as an economic actor unfold.

"I've already got a contract with Rowman & Littlefield. I'm committed to manuscript delivery by the end of the calendar year, so I'm hoping for a 2007 publication date."

Blurb, One of Time's "50 Coolest Websites"

The hits keep coming for Blurb. This time from Time. For all of you following the wonderful work Eileen Gittins and Blurb is doing, they've been named one of Time's "50 Coolest Websites." Time highlights Blurb's coming offering, "blog-to-book":

"SELF-PUBLISHING Blurb. Soon those old-fogy relatives of yours who still don't have Internet access (or even a computer) will be able to experience the brilliance of your blog without compromising their Luddite principals.

"Blurb's "slurper" tool uploads the contents of your blog (up to 400 8x10 printed pages worth) and reformats it into book form. You choose the design layout and other particulars; the company ships you the finished product (full color, hardcover, bound, with custom dust jacket for $29.95 to $79.95 depending on number of pages) then makes your book available on the site for others to buy.

"For now, the site's BookSmart software already can be used to make other types of books (cookbooks, baby books, poetry books) while the blog-to-book program, temporarily unavailable while 200 selected bloggers test it, makes it public debut in September. We're talking books you can page through and place on coffee tables. How retro. "